Congregations

General Assembly Statement on Same-Sex Marriage

The General
Assembly of the Associated Churches of Scotland and Canada, convened this 26th
day of May 2015 at Inverness, Scotland, hereby utterly deplores the place being
given in the nation to the legalisation of marriage between same-sex couples.

Not only
have the Scots and Westminster civil governments passed legislation in its
favour but now, and with possibly even more serious consequences for the
nation, the National Church has on Saturday, the 16th May 2015, and
in terms of Barrier Act procedures,
opened the door for congregations to call ministers in homosexual marriages to
hold pastoral charge in congregations of the Church.

The Seventh
Commandment –“Thou shalt not commit
adultery” – is an integral part of the Moral Law as written by the finger
of God on tables of stone and given to Moses in the wilderness.Rightly it has been observed that this law is
a transcript of the nature of God
Himself, declaring His eternal and unchanging purity.

A main
argument has been the claim of equality.It is true that we have all sinned and we are equal in that regard.The Gospel of Jesus Christ shows, however, a
way wherebyman may be forgiven; but only
if we both believe and repent.Therefore, we wish for all people to accept Jesus Christ.He is a gracious saviour.

A response
of faith and repentance, such that we find in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, is what we
need for ourselves individually and corporately in church and government:

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of
God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were
some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God."

Our Church

The Associated Presbyterian Churches is a confessional denomination whose system of doctrine is summed up in the Westminster Confession of Faith.

We confess that the Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments have been given by God to His Church by inspiration and that they are the sufficient and only infallible rule of faith and practice and arbitrator of all of all controversies with respect to our Most Holy Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In agreement with the Scripture as the basis of all true churches, we identify our theology as being catholic, evangelical and reformed.

Our theology is “catholic” in the sense that it reaffirms the doctrines of the historic Christian Faith which spans across generational, geographical, language or racial boundaries. Thus, we take seriously the apostolic admonition recorded for us in Jude 3 to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.”

Our theology is “evangelical” in the sense that affirms the vital and biblical doctrines of historic Protestantism such as Sola Scriptura and Sola Fide.

Our theology is “reformed” in the sense that it is God-centered to the core.

Reformed theology is mainly (not exclusively) distinguished from other Protestant systems of belief by the fact that it places great emphasis on the doctrine of God.

The biblical structure of God’s covenant of grace, which is at the very heart of Reformed theology, provides the framework for our theology.

The APC came into being in 1989, following the perceived failure of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland to put into practice two chapters of the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Church’s Subordinate Standard.

In this way, it may be said that the APC ‘distinctives’ which caused its separate existence in May, 1989 were a re-asserting in its Church Practice of chapters 20 and 26 of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Chapter 20: “Of Christian Liberty, and Liberty of Conscience” – ‘God alone is Lord of the conscience, and has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men, which are in any way contrary to His Word; or beside it, if matters of faith or worship. So that, to believe such doctrines, or to obey such commands, out of conscience, is to betray true liberty of conscience: and the requiring of an implicit faith, and an absolute and blind obedience is to destroy liberty of conscience, and reason also.

Chapter 26: “Of Communion of Saints” – The APC seeks to re-assert this communion as expressed in the Westminster Confession of Faith itself: “Saints, by profession, are bound to maintain an holy fellowship and communion in the worship of God, and in performing such other spiritual services as tend to their mutual edification; as also in relieving each other in outward things, according to their several abilities and necessities. Which communion, as God offers opportunity, is to be extended to all those who in every place, call upon the name of the Lord Jesus”.

We in the APC, therefore, practice fellowship with all Evangelical Christians, and, on this basis, have an ‘open pulpit’ policy. We believe that it is correct to allow Christians to make their own decisions on matters that are not fundamental to the faith.

We emphasise the importance of doctrine based on the Bible as the Supreme Standard and the Westminster Confession of Faith as the Subordinate Standard.